Since God has done us the honor of creating us in His own image, we seem to feel that it is only fair that we recreate Him in ours. One might imagine that a reflection of a reflection should result in a circular translation of the original image, but alas, much is lost in the translation!
There are truths that make perfect sense to our rational mind. Concepts like the equality of all men, human rights, freedom, and liberty, these to the thinking man seem as natural as the air that we breathe. They are not truths, I think, that need to be taught, though they may need to be taught to be followed. Children are not born believing they should be slaves, that their rights should be subject to the whims of others, or that they should surrender their freedom to another’s will. Likewise, though, there is another, darker side to our humanity that seems to also need no training; our animal nature, our “Mr. Hyde”; the part of us that seeks to enslave, to dominate, and to exalt ourselves over others.
Our institutions should serve to enable the brighter aspect of our nature. Our religion, our schools, our government… society itself, all should spring from our desire for goodness, justice, and liberty for all. Necessarily, our darker side chafes at this confinement. Some are content to merely exercise their depravity through impiety, anti-social behavior, anarchy, or crime; others find the need to dress the animal in men’s clothing or put lipstick on a pig. That is to say, they seek to justify their desires, and even multiply their domination, through the corruption of those high institutions. Religion, government, educational institutions, and society are all bent to fit our darker nature. Instead of religion stressing love, peace, and the free will of man; we have today’s brand of radical Islam which seems to have as its major tenet the conquest of all mankind. Whereas other religions have been altered or created to make respectable such atrocities as pedophilia, prostitution, or slavery; Islam is now being used to give authorization to domination, torture, murder, and genocide. It may be that the religion has been corrupted, but its very name means “submission” or “surrender”, and so one must ask if this is a religion coopted by those with a desire for domination, or one created and embraced by them.
It has always seemed puzzling how vindictive progressives can be when it comes to Republicans, social conservatives, and fundamentalist Christians; with whom they, despite their differences, no doubt find a broad area of agreement on such important topics as slavery, capital punishment for homosexuals, rape, and beheading of one’s enemies; and yet at the same time gladly forbear those who share no such agreement with them. Might it be that the framework of Sharia is only different in the details from the framework of progressivism, and much as Stalin may have understood Hitler, one bully understands another, and the elite seeking to impose their will on one population might struggle to condemn others behaving the same. President Obama’s refusal to accept the lawful will of Congress or the expressed desire of the American people through the use of unconstitutional gimmicks is itself government by Jihad, demanding submission; domination instead of leadership.
Our universities and colleges, much like our society itself, have always reflected the value of free thought and speech. Censure of beliefs and ideas was discouraged even when the beliefs were wrong and the ideas ludicrous. Having gained a foothold through this freedom, liberal academics no longer see the value in retaining it. Question climate change dogma and you will be ostracized as a flat-earther; suggest the possibility of intelligent design and you could easily lose your job. Comedian Chris Rock won’t perform at college campuses anymore because they have become so politically correct that they have no sense of humor. Berkeley students attempted to bar the very liberal Bill Maher from speaking there because he took a break from bashing Christianity, and made a few critical remarks about Islam. Then of course there’s Sarah Palin, Condoleeza Rice, Ann Coulter, George Will….
The shooting at the French periodical Charlie Hebdo is the logical culmination of the type of thinking that has institutionalized murder as a response to criticism, and the conviction that your beliefs trump other people’s lives. These terrorists seem to be comprised of people whose religion has not grown with the rest of mankind past the middle ages. What they share with society as a whole, and yes even American society, is the growing tendency to seek to impose one’s will through domination, rather than inviting others to your position through persuasion. As is the case in Washington, the marketplace of ideas has become a battlefield. No longer is freedom of speech our standard, no longer are ideas and positions judged on their merits. What we are allowed to hear, to buy, or to do, is now determined by who can organize the biggest boycott or who has the most lawyers or politicians on their payroll. We have brought the Hell of war to everyday life. Our war cry once was “Liberty”, it is now “Submit!”.
IMHO: Our nation began as a refuge from that war. People came here seeking to escape tyranny and domination. As the world shrinks, this refuge becomes that much more precious. There is nowhere left for weary pilgrims to escape to where domination will not follow them. It is here we must make our stand to preserve that precious land of the free as a beacon to the world. I have heard with sadness the suggestion that we fight terror with terror, that we take innocent lives, that we mimic their barbarism. The same logic can be used where we censor those who have tried to censor us, dominate the dominators, become tyrants for good. But that is always the temptation of the dark side, as though there were a way to dominate for good, whereby our very act of dominance would be our ultimate submission. In fearing a dark future we might seek a hero, but the ring of power corrupts, no matter whose hand bears it. If we are truly created in God’s image, the ends never justify the means; the means are the ends.
